Frederick Douglass Letter To My Old Master Analysis

601 Words3 Pages

Deshanna Glenn
ENG 1300

Letter to my old master, Thomas Auld
“Yon bright sun beheld me a slave - a poor degraded chattel - trembling at the sound of your voice, lamenting that I was a man”(Frederick Douglass). Mr. Frederick Douglass spoke intelligently and articulately in this well-written letter to his old master, Thomas Auld. Douglass used metaphors, wit, and irony in this sentence to his master, He sounded, “removed” and placid as he spoke very straightforward, bold, yet respectful way about the degradation of being treated as personal property instead of a human being. There is a little melodrama in there but he still remained cool and very intellectual. Mr. Douglass believed slaves deserved to be free, and should be treated equally as humans with rights.so he used his own experiences as a slave to help abolish slavery everywhere. Slaves are human and did not deserve …show more content…

Slaves had no legal rights; therefore, there was no way to prosecute anyone who killed one of them. They had to hide their true feelings and lie about their happiness in order not to be killed. They were considered assets of the estate and valued just like animals. They were beaten mercilessly and cruelly, sometimes when they had committed no offense. Slavery is wrong because it take away a person’s true identity, their lives is no longer theirs and is controlled by someone else, whom control every aspect of the slave. Douglass endured lots of whippings, along with many other slaves, during his years with Master Auld.
“They have been entirely deprived of the power to read and write. You have kept them in utter ignorance” (Frederick Douglass)
Frederick Douglass believed that God created all people equal. However, he also believed that we weren't just born free and that we have to make ourselves into whom we are. Education and self-improvement were very important to him. The worst thing